Language man working on Aboriginal languages occasionally sharing his thoughts...

February 26, 2013

Mack Riley says no to grog

I watched 4 Corners last night. The program - Punch Drunk - was about the personal and economic cost of alcohol to Australia's young people, police, health and judicial services. It was a great program. I've been put in hospital before because of stupid drunken violence and am all too aware of the problem it is in our society.

Today I was flicking through the Marra grammar and rediscovered a nice little text by Mack Manguji Riley about how he doesn't like grog. Mack's little story was recorded in the 1970s and he died a long time ago (he's the brother of famous Marra artist, Ginger Riley) but I really like his little spiel in Marra about grog. I thought I'd share:

As for me, I do not like grog. They drink it.
I do not drink it, that is bad.
Many people die,
and others - single men - do not work (because of grog).

Mack Riley's Marra text (above) was recorded in the mid 1970s by Jeffrey Heath who published it in "Basic Materials in Mara: grammar, texts and dictionary" in 1981. The Marra transcription and English translation are by Jeffrey Heath and I did the Kriol translation (which some of you may notice has some slightly different interpretations from what Heath' put in his English translation).